Walden Two: Human Nature, Morality, and Society

Introduction: The Utopian Tradition

"The bourgeoisie naturally conceives the world in which it is supreme to be the best." — Karl Marx

Throughout history, people have expressed dissatisfaction with the state of the world and have continually sought ways to improve it. Along the way, various fictional societies called "Utopias" — a term derived from Thomas More's book of the same name, written in 1515–1516 — were created in an image of perfectionism. These utopian communities, all somewhat different in form and often ultimately oppositional in function, nevertheless shared one thing in common: each boasted that it alone was founded on consummate judicial and moral principles, with the ultimate result of effortless happiness and true freedom for all its citizens.

B.F. Skinner admits that when he wrote Walden Two in 1945, it "was not a bad time for Western Civilization" (Skinner, 1979). This was an era that had not yet confronted the daunting confusion and helpless anxiety of a world decimated by hate crimes, industrial pollution, melting polar ice caps, the greenhouse effect, AIDS, or Hepatitis C. Yet Skinner was still compelled to write a book outlining what he believed would be a perfect society — one in which behavioral engineering is used to manipulate the environment and the people within it, guaranteeing a comprehensive and idealistic community based on moral and legal standards so high that freedom for every citizen is assured. Skinner himself notes in his Preface to Walden Two that "the dissatisfactions which led [him] to write Walden Two were personal" (1976). Either way, like masses everywhere in every era, he was unhappy and searching for a resolution — even if only a literary one.

In today's society, Christian values are more often expounded than embodied. There are sincere Christians who practice what they preach, but quite often beliefs seem to take precedence over actual values. In Walden Two, the community has no formal institution such as a church to define right and wrong, nor does it have formalized sanctions such as the promise of heaven or the threat of hell. Yet its citizens still appear to know the difference between right and wrong and act accordingly. In the real world, by contrast, politically prominent Christians are often the most visible hypocrites — proclaiming their beliefs publicly while privately engaging in conduct that contradicts those very beliefs. The absence of formal politics in Walden Two serves, paradoxically, to bring the community closer to genuinely Christian values than many modern societies manage, without even trying.

Morality in Walden Two

In terms of right and wrong, Walden Two operates according to a very different set of values than modern society. Contemporary culture is largely preoccupied with the morals and goals promoted by commercialism and consumerism — the Puritan work ethic, profits over personalities, and the idea that material accumulation is the measure of success. The values of Walden Two, by contrast, include a four-hour workday, an equal division of labor and goods, and a strong emphasis on leisure time and the arts. Right and wrong are determined by the behavior and choices of the population and by what seems to make the majority content and happy. As Frazier explains in Chapter Eight of Walden Two, the community will "change the value [of labor-credits] according to the needs of the community" (Skinner, 1948).

Traditional religion is internalized through threat and fear. Non-practicing Catholics who spent childhoods reciting catechism in private schools, and disgruntled Christians raised on fire-and-brimstone preaching, are common throughout modern society and serve to prove Frazier's point that traditional faith, as commonly practiced, lacks credibility. Frazier is ultimately proven correct by the end of the novel — the methods employed in Walden Two do produce citizens who are disciplined, loving, and grateful. However, it remains unclear whether the means of achieving this outcome are truly rational. The mere absence of traditional religion does not, by itself, validate Frazier's techniques — such as the "mild shock treatments" described in Chapter Ten (Skinner, 1948) — as more reasonable alternatives.

In effect, the modern social contract is based on an exchange principle. Citizens work hard and pay their taxes — even when earning minimum wage and struggling to afford food and housing — and in return the government is expected to provide protection, access to health care, and essential goods and services. The current interest in politics stems largely from the feeling that the government is not fulfilling its side of this contract. Whether or not this perception is accurate, it drives engagement with and involvement in government. No American citizen speaks of running for senator, governor, or president simply to maintain the status quo — people enter elections because they genuinely want to make changes, or because they seek to gain or preserve control over something or someone.

Based on this argument, this author supports Frazier's assertion that people do not genuinely care about political participation when they already have meaningful control over their own lives. When citizens feel empowered and their basic needs are met, the hunger for political engagement diminishes — a dynamic that Walden Two illustrates through its deliberately apolitical structure.

The most pressing question regarding freedom in Walden Two is not whether the society possesses freedoms, or even whether it has the right kinds of freedoms, but rather how to define freedom in a way that applies meaningfully across all societies. As Karl Marx observes in the epigraph above, those who possess great wealth and power naturally see no reason to relinquish it — least of all for so abstract a reason as extending intangible freedoms to others.